With 90% of customers researching their future car purchase on the web prior to making contact with a retailer, and over 70% of customers checking out their car financing options, including searches for the best car loans online before visiting a retailer, it is very apparent that making use of the internet is important in driving business. It is worth noting that whilst the web can be more cost effective and deliver more sales, it demands a different approach, it requires speed and it requires a passion to keep pushing into new e- territories. Above all it requires passionate e-retailers. Whilst all motor dealers should make use of the web, Carlyle Finance has invested a significant amount of money in supporting dealers so that they can maximize coverage for potential customers, and in turn, increase sales with an innovative new website from Carlyle Finance ready to be launched in the coming months.
Carlyle Finance has invested a lot of time and research into the psychology of the web shopper. To benefit from this audience Carlyle needed to create e-marketing strategies, unique approaches and excellence in customer service to meet the very different needs of car buyers using the web. Carlyle's new website will support what web shoppers expect, ensuring customers are driven to supporting dealers. Whilst Carlyle seeks to support its dealers, here are a few tips for improving your own website to maximise your sales:
Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
Getting a website to the top of the first page of search sites is vital ? this is optimisation, if a customer can?t find you, they won?t buy from you! There are a number of options including Pay-per-Click (this can be pricey) and ?natural search?, which uses key words searched by web surfers to find the products/ services they are interested in. For example, you may produce content that contains information for customers searching for car advice or what the best car loans are on the market, ranking your site higher on Google than others.
Identifying keywords, for example ?car advice? or ?best car loans? is vital to attract the highest level of click- throughs; these words constantly change and as such web copy needs to be refined and amended all the time. Time and money on the right expertise is something that has to be spent.
Mobile Internet
Ensure you can accommodate mobile web needs ? last year Deloitte estimated that nearly one in five consumers used a mobile device to assist in their web shopping. Consider creating a mobile application.
Mobile Web audience in the US grew a whopping 34 percent between July 2008 and July 2009, in spite of the economic climate and otherwise bleak consumer spending. If your web cannot be easily read on a smart phone you could miss this opportunity.
Social Networking
Face Book and Twitter are at the vanguard of social networking right now (although Twitter use has dropped significantly this year). It would be hard to show that such technology actually sells cars, but it does create positive noise ? which in turn helps SEO and above all creates all important advocacy, positively signposting a retailers site. Less than one in ten of the Motor Trader Top 200 dealers are taking advantage of social networking sites according to recent research ? an opportunity missed?
Improving your own website coupled with the use of Carlyle's website should see sales grow and Carlyle looks forward to launching its innovative site in the coming months.
